Epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) is the fifth leading cause of cancer-related deaths in women in the United States and the leading cause of gynecologic cancer related deaths (Jemal A, Siegel et. al, Cancer statistics, 2007, CA Cancer J Clin 2007; 57:43-66). Annually, there are more than 22,000 new cases of ovarian cancer in the United States and over 16,000 deaths. Despite efforts to develop an effective ovarian cancer screening method, most patients still present with advanced (Stages III-IV) disease. Survival of patients diagnosed with ovarian cancer is known to closely correlate with stage at diagnosis.
Treatment for advanced ovarian carcinoma is based on the combination of surgery and chemotherapy. The objective of surgical intervention in patients suffering from advanced disease is to perform cytoreduction to minimal residual disease in the abdominal cavity. Surgery is followed by adjuvant platinum based chemotherapy. The two most important prognostic factors for patients with advanced ovarian carcinoma are the amount of residual disease left after surgery and the response to platinum based chemotherapy.
Platinum-based cytotoxic chemotherapy in conjunction with debulking surgery is currently the gold standard treatment for patients with ovarian cancer. Although 80-90% of patients initially respond to first line treatment, most will either later progress during therapy or recur after complete remission.
microRNAs (miRNAs, miRs) are endogenous non-coding small RNAs that interfere with the translation of coding messenger RNAs (mRNAs) in a sequence specific manner, playing a critical role in the control of gene expression during development and tissue homeostasis (Yi et al., 2006, Nat Genet. 38, 356-362). Certain miRNAs have been shown to be deregulated in human cancer, and their specific over- or under-expression has been shown to correlate with particular tumor types (Calin and Croce, 2006, Nat Rev Cancer 6, 857-866), as well as to predict patient outcome (Yu et al., 2008, Cancer Cell 13, 48-57).
In spite of considerable research into therapies for ovarian cancer, ovarian cancer remains difficult to diagnose and treat effectively, and the mortality observed in patients indicates that improvements are needed in the treatment and prevention of the disease.